Arrow: Enemy of My Enemy
by Bloodsong 13T
Summary: Oliver, Diggle, and Sara are hunting down the Dark Archer, but they're not the only ones. With the League of Assassins in the picture, alliances can change. Warning: SPOILERS for Arrow Season 2 (no, not everybody has seen it yet!)
1. Betrayal

**Enemy of My Enemy**

**Betrayal**

_CONTENT:_

Rating: Mature

Flavor: Action/Adventure/Drama

Language: yes

Violence: yes

Nudity: no

Sex: no

Other: SPOILERS for Season 2

_Author's Notes:_

This is a quick scenario I imagined during season 2 of Arrow. It's not a whole story, just a tantalizing beginning. Hey, it has Enemy Mine and Betrayal tropes, so I'm happy! The scenario is cut into little pieces, because I know how much you LOVE waiting to find out what happens next! (Admit it, you do!) (If you don't, fine, just wait a few days :P There are only 3 chapters.)

In this scenario, Sara has not yet escaped the League of Assassins. Malcolm Merlyn is back in town, and Oliver is hunting him down with his team.

I don't pretend to know Arabic, Egyptian, or pseudo-Arabic, or whatever it is that Ra's al Ghul and his League of Assassins are using. So I Made Up Crap(tm).

* * *

**Betrayal**

===#===

There was a body in the hall.

Oliver's stomach clenched at the sight of the black hood, the leather tunic. But he knew, even as Diggle kept his gun leveled and approached, that it was not Malcolm Merlyn. The body was too slight, and there was a black arrow in its throat.

He crouched to make sure, anyway, while Diggle kept him covered. "She's dead." He stood, dismissing the unknown woman from his mind. Not out of callous disregard for human life, but because anything distracting him from his enemy would get him killed.

Sara waited a few steps ahead. Oliver read tension in every line of her body. Once the League brought down Merlyn, they might just turn their attention to the woman who had escaped their clutches. Momentarily, he wished Sara didn't have to be here. But there was no way he was going up against Merlyn again without all the allies he could muster. He moved forward with determination, his fingers tight on the string of his bow.

They passed through the derelict tenement, gutted and broken since the Undertaking. There were more bodies.

Diggle said, "Your friends don't seem to be doing too well."

"They're not my friends," Sara replied darkly.

They continued to the stairwell, ears straining for any sound, eyes digging into every shadow, looking for movement.

Diggle poked his head out to peer up the darkened stairway. City lights shone through dirty windows at various intervals. "This is one big death trap," he said. There was scant cover on the narrow stairs, and any enemy above had a distinct advantage. "We don't know what level he may have gone to."

"Archers like the high ground," Oliver said, taking the lead. "All the way to the top."

===#===

The roof had a bit more cover - the shed that housed the stairway door, a few low, broad ventilation shaft covers, some duct work at the far side. There was a construction crane looming up over the building from an adjacent site.

Oliver's eyes were drawn to it; he scanned its framework for any sign of his quarry. It nearly cost him an arrow through his neck. At the last moment, instinct made him dodge, and the shaft tore through a fold of his hood. "Spread out!" He tucked and rolled over his shoulder, making his arrows rattle in their quiver.

He shook the hood back out of his way as he came up, nocked an arrow, and fired. He was reaching for another even as the first was in the air. Merlyn dodged the shot, his own bow drawn, but he didn't fire, not at Oliver. He turned and launched the black arrow to Oliver's right.

Diggle cried out, but Oliver didn't stop or look. He shot arrow after arrow at the dark figure retreating into the shadows. He knew if he wanted to defeat this man, he would have to stay focused, not let anything distract him or sway his conviction.

He followed Merlyn into the maze of shadows, trusting Sara to flank him, trusting his honed reflexes to keep from getting shot.

They came to a clear area beyond the ductwork, punctuated by skylights. Oliver slapped a black arrow out of the air with the upper limb of his bow. Merlyn was out of arrows. He tossed down his bow and drew a pair of wicked blades. He settled his weight, legs bent, ready to move in any direction.

His eyes flickered within his cowl.

Oliver sensed Sarah coming up on his left, catching a glimpse of black leather and blonde wig from the corner of his eye. He pulled back on his bow, holding it at full draw, waiting for the right moment to unleash it in a kill shot.

There was a clang from overhead, the sound of metal hitting metal. Oliver flung a glance at the crane and saw a trio of ziplines extending from another building across the street. Silhouettes descended along the lines.

Behind Merlyn, more grappling hooks clutched at the top of the roof. The League was closing in.

"_Ta Ehr el Safir!_" the Dark Archer called.

_What?_ Oliver didn't understand the words the man was saying urgently, some plea or challenge to the assassins, it didn't matter. Oliver pulled the fletching to his ear. If they wanted to claim this kill, they'd have to get in line.

Just as he released the string, a staff cracked down on his arm, driving the arrow into the concrete. Pain flashed intensely, but it barely registered over his surprise. "Sara? Wh-?"

The next blow caught him across the face, and he staggered back. A boot caught him in the chest. He reeled, trying to clear his vision, to mount a defense against this onslaught. His head pounded; he kept his arms up. The staff smashed into his ribs, driving the breath from his lungs. The low retaining wall caught him at the back of his legs and he tipped over, grasping wildly to catch himself, but there was only empty air.

His body tumbled weightlessly a moment. Blackness flooded his vision; he felt nothing of the impact.

===#===

There was a two-and-a-half foot goddamned _stick_ poking through his arm. Diggle bit down hard on the pain and the panicked urge to pull it out. He scooted for cover against a ventilation fan housing. Dammit, he had to help Oliver and Sara.

Bracing himself, he looked at his arm. It wasn't so bad. There was a lot of blood, but it was just a skinny thing passing between the bones of his forearm. A big splinter. No cause for it to _hurt_ so goddamned much.

He knew pulling it out would cause more damage, but he couldn't leave it sticking out of his arm. He gripped it and tried to snap the end off.

"Aaaah!" _Shit!_ He quit when the edges of his vision went black. Okay, carbon polymer wasn't going to break as easily as good old-fashioned wood.

Diggle took a steadying breath... Then two and three. He couldn't close his right hand. Well, fine. He grabbed his fallen sidearm with his off hand. Then he levered himself to his feet, right arm held out awkwardly at an angle.

Trying to keep the arrow from bumping against his body, or any of the ductwork structures, he made his way through the shadow-checkered roofscape.

He heard someone fighting and sped up, caution be damned. This fight wasn't going to end without him. Not this time.

He stopped dead, sidearm half-raised, when he saw Sara push Oliver off the roof. His body remained frozen as she came towards him; he couldn't process what had just happened. "Sara, what the hell?"

That staff whipped out of nowhere and cracked against his skull.

Diggle dropped in a heap.

===#===

Sara turned back, her mind focused on the approaching assassins, counting... 13, 14, 15, 16. Subtracting two as she swept their legs from under them; but they'd be back in the fight soon enough. She had to get to Merlyn. He was surrounded, blades whirring in an deadly dance.

She threw herself at the assassins, cracking a skull, fouling an aim, her own staff a blur as she attacked furiously. A space opened up. She put her back to Merlyn's. "I'm here."

"Don't hesitate. Kill them all."

A tall order. But the solid authority of the Master's voice bolstered Sara's confidence. All she had to do was fight - if the League wanted Merlyn dead, they'd have to kill her first.

With a roar, she sprang forward. No hesitation.

===_X_===


	2. Enemy of my Enemy

**Enemy of My Enemy**

**Chapter 2: Enemy of My Enemy**

_CONTENT:_

Rating: Mature

Flavor: Action/Adventure/Drama

Language: no

Violence: no

Nudity: no

Sex: no

Other: SPOILERS for Season 2

_Author's Notes:_

Yes, this is very short. I warned you, didn't I? No one ever listens to me, of course...

* * *

**Enemy of My Enemy**

===#===

Sara followed the Dark Archer down the narrow fire escape and through a darkened alley. She stopped to catch her breath. She'd never faced so many of the League's assassins at one time. She could hardly believe she was still alive.

The dark figure moved to a motorcycle parked at the end of the alley. He pulled off his hood and unhooked a helmet from the handlebars. Then he turned to her. "Come with me," he said, a little short of breath himself. "I have a secure haven. We'll be safe there, for a time."

"No." She shook her head. "You tried to destroy this city. I helped you tonight, but I am _not_ your ally." She turned away, but stopped at the sound of his voice.

"Don't forget your training. 'The enemy of my enemy...'" He let his words sink in a moment. "I'm not the only one the League is hunting."

Sara cursed underbreath. She looked back. "You think putting both their targets together in one place is such a good strategy?"

"No. But allying ourselves to defeat them? I think that is the best chance we have."

She could only stare at him in disbelief. "Two people against the League? Against Ra's al Ghul himself? They only want me back, alive. You, they want dead."

He studied her a moment. "You want to reclaim your life as much as I do. And you're not alone. There are others who want to free themselves from the claws of the Demon. Others still within the League that I am in contact with. More allies." His voice hardened. "And do you really think the likes of Oliver and his bodyguard can stand against the League of Assassins?"

Sara chewed her lip. She was the one who told Diggle that the League made Special Forces look like kindergarten. And Oliver's slapdash training? He had heart, but...

She shook her head.

===_X_===


	3. Weighing Decisions

**Enemy of My Enemy**

**Chapter 3: Weighing Decisions**

CONTENT:

Rating: Mature

Flavor: Action/Adventure/Drama

Language: yes

Violence: no

Nudity: no

Sex: no

Other: SPOILERS for Season 2

_Author's Notes:_

You weren't worried when I shoved Oliver off a building, were you?

This is it for my bit of writing. I hereby release the plot bunnies of 'Falcon & Canary' stories into the wild! Run! Be free!

* * *

**Weighing Decisions**

===#===

Pain.

Well, that was nothing new.

Pain meant 'not dead' and 'no longer unconscious.' Oliver cracked his eyelids open - or at least one of them - as he tried to catalogue what hurt and how, and where the hell he was.

"He's coming around." That was Felicity's voice.

"Where am I?" he groaned. He tried to sit up, but his stomach warned him that was a bad idea. "What happened?"

Diggle's dark face swam into his vision. "Well, you didn't do a five-storey triple-gainer like I thought you had. You hit some scaffolding. You are damned lucky to be alive."

_Sara!_ Sara had turned on him, attacked him. She'd tried to kill him! He felt nauseous again, but this time he forced himself upright. He blinked to clear his... yeah, one eye, since the other was swollen shut. Now he could see Diggle's swollen and bruised face. "You look how I feel."

"I feel how you look," the bodyguard grumbled. His right arm was in a makeshift sling.

Felicity said, "You both look horrible, especially that." She pointed at Oliver's left arm. The forearm was bruised in varying shades of red and purple.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's fractured," Oliver confessed.

"You should go to the hospital for that," Diggle suggested. "Make up another story about your lousy motorcycle riding skills."

"No." Oliver started to shake his head, but his head disagreed with that decision. "There's bandages and plaster in the kit. If I go to the hospital, they'll put on a soft cast. I need a solid one so I can hold the bow."

"Hold a bow?" Felicity exclaimed. "You can't even stand up!"

He slid off the edge of the table just to prove her wrong.

She frowned. "Teetering doesn't count."

"I'll be fine," he insisted. "Patch me up, and..."

"And what?" Felicity was too polite to say it, but he knew what she was thinking. What was he going to do? Hunt down another 'psycho ex-girlfriend'? Dammit, he didn't understand what had happened.

Suddenly he tensed, hearing an intruder. He turned. "Sara."

"Ollie," she said quietly, emerging from the shadows.

Diggle pulled out his gun, awkwardly with one hand. "You got a lot of nerve showing up here, after what you pulled!"

"I'm sorry," Sara said, glancing at Diggle but looking at Oliver. "I can explain."

"Digg," Oliver said quietly.

"She's a traitor!"

"Let her talk," Felicity said.

With a silent snarl, Diggle lowered his weapon.

Sara met his eyes, studying him a long moment. He didn't know what she wanted to see, but he gave her nothing. He'd expected more from her, since that island, since she'd become a stronger person. "You tried to kill me."

"No, I swear, I didn't." She came forward, into the light. "I knew I couldn't stop you with just half measures, Oliver. I couldn't let you get the slightest chance to kill Merlyn; I had to take you out of the fight. I pushed you towards that crane; I saw the scaffolding was there."

He shook his head slowly. "Why? Why did you save him?"

She took a breath and started pacing as she spoke. "When I was inducted into the League of Assassins, I trained under various Masters. Al Owal was the only one who was there all the time. Others came and went. None of us knew who they were; their faces were always hidden. We only knew them by the names they had taken within the League."

She turned and paced back. "Some of us were sent out on a mission. I... I failed." Her eyes were cast down. "I was nearly killed, but one of the Masters saved me. Adel Eyeh el Sokar, the Falcon." She stopped in front of Oliver and looked at him. "I swear, Ollie, I had no idea it was Malcolm Merlyn until he called my name tonight."

"And you just had to obey him, is that it?"

"Look, we were trained to be cold-blooded killers. But Ra's al Ghul always said that assassins have honor. We only kill our targets, not civilians, or bystanders, or children. We are sworn to uphold the honor of the League, to honor our brothers and sisters, to repay our debts. I _had to_, Ollie." Her eyes pleaded with him. "He saved my life, I had to do the same in return. Without honor, I'm just a heartless murderer." She dropped her gaze again, and her voice was barely a whisper. "...a monster."

"Sara, you're not..."

She just shook her head and looked away.

"So," Felicity ventured, "what do we do now?"

"We need to track Merlyn down again," Oliver said. He did not ask Sara where he might be, nor did he ask her to help. He did not want to compromise her principles.

"Ollie," she said. "I need you to stop hunting him."

"What? Why?"

"Just... for a few weeks, okay?" Her blue eyes met his. "Promise me."

He got an uneasy feeling about this. From the corner of his eye, he saw Diggle and Felicity exchanging a look. He looked back to Sara. "Whatever hold he has over you, we can beat him."

"It's not him." Pain filled her eyes. "It's the League of Assassins. And you can't beat them. Not all of them at once."

"And he can?" Oliver demanded.

"He says he has allies within the League."

Felicity said, "And he could be totally lying."

Sara shook her head, and all traces of vulnerability evaporated from her demeanor. "I'm sorry. But you need to stay out of this. For your own sakes." She turned and walked out.

Oliver clenched his teeth, burning inside. Sara was just looking out for herself, using people, treating him like nothing. After everything... but no. He could not expect a thing from her. Her life was at stake, and since that fateful night aboard the _Gambit_, he was ineffective when it came to saving her.

Outwardly, he remained impassive rock.

Diggle said, "I'll go get the plaster."

"Never mind. I'll just go to the emergency room."

===_X_===

* * *

_End Notes:_

Oops, I forgot to mention I was following a crucial bit of head-canon here, though hopefully Sara explained it all right. Tommy said Malcolm disappeared for two years, back when he and Oliver were 8. Naturally, that was when he went to Nanda Parbat and joined the League. Some people may think that was the only time he was there.

But I think he had his initial training there at that time, but he returned periodically (on vacations and sabbaticals from work) to keep up with his training. I mean, you can't stay THAT good by only training for two years about 20 years ago and not keeping up with it.

.

_Diggle pulled out his gun, awkwardly with one hand. "You got a lot of nerve showing up here, after what you pulled!"_

-I didn't really mean him to quote _Star Wars_ here... and he's quite serious!


End file.
